Amid ongoing complaints and bans on parts of global ownership about China, Microsoft said it was in talks to purchase the TikTok social media video app in the United States from its parent company ByteDance. President Trump approved negotiations after the tension reported within the Republican Party after he delivered Friday that he planned to ban enforcement in the United States.
Microsoft will have to act temporarily on the possible acquisition after Trump agreed to give the company a 45-day window to buy the social media company before the U.S. government pursues a possible ban. Trump reportedly accepted the window in reaction to the tension of some White House staff members and Congressional Republicans who warned that TikTok’s ban could further alienate the young electorate ahead of the November election.
Senator Lindsay Graham, SAR. C., he talked about Trump on Twitter, calling him “winning-win in the bud.”
The deadline for an agreement is September 15 and the progress of the possible agreement will be monitored through the U.S. Foreign Investment Committee. If the sale materializes, tensions will arise around TikTok after President Trump said he would work to ban popular application in the United States.
“Following a verbal exchange between Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and President Donald J. Trump, Microsoft is in a position to continue discussions to explore an acquisition of TikTok in the United States,” Microsoft said in a press release Sunday.
“Microsoft fully appreciates the importance of addressing the president’s concerns. It is committed to winning the TikTok theme for a comprehensive security review and providing a proper economy to the United States, adding the US Treasury to the U.S. Treasury and the United States to the U.S. Treasury.
The “concerns” that Microsoft is talking about are the possible surveillance and exchange of data between ByteDance and the Chinese government. These have been the source of non-unusual complaints from multi-generation corporations with roots in China, arguably the wisest device manufacturer around Huawei.
In addition to serving U.S. interests, Microsoft’s acquisition would also give the generation giant TikTok ownership in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
On one of the many fronts of toxic dating between the United States and China, President Donald Trump has threatened to ban the popular TikTok app, raising national security considerations Photo: AFP/Lionel BONAVENTURE